Tuesday’s Top Trailer: Saving Mr. Banks

Welcome to a weekly feature here at Movies with Abe, Tuesday's Top Trailer. One of my favorite parts about going to see movies is the series of trailers that airs beforehand and, more often than not, the trailer is far better than the actual film. Each week, I'll be sharing a trailer I've recently seen. Please chime in with comments on what you think of the trailer and how you think the movie is going to be.

Saving Mr. Banks – Opening December 20, 2013

The trailer everyone seems to be talking about right now is that for the upcoming biopic of Walt Disney which, like many other recent cinematic biopics, isolates his life down to a single filmmaking experience, in this case, that of “Mary Poppins.” That formula didn’t work so well for “Hitchcock” last year, but with the full force of the Disney studio behind it and a family-friendly marketing campaign, I think this one should be a hit. Director John Lee Hancock’s previous film is the abysmally corny “The Blind Side,” which doesn’t suggest excellent dramatic prowess on his part, but maybe this one will be innocent and harmless enough to be enjoyable. Tom Hanks hasn’t had this kind of heartwarming, quality part in a while, and I think it be good for him to headline a film of this nature. Emma Thompson similarly hasn’t accessed her true thespian side in a while, and I think that she’ll likely steal the film as the author of the novel on which the classic 1964 film was based. I’m most pleased by the casting of Jason Schwartzman and B.J. Novak as the song-writing Sherman brothers, and having Paul Giamatti and Bradley Whitford in the supporting cast can’t hurt either. I just hope that this is an enriching and fulfilling experience rather than a watered-down, excessively pleasant cinematic rendering of the making of a memorable movie.